


Lessons Learned

by Zakad



Series: All My Ghosts are at Rest [2]
Category: Bleach, Naruto
Genre: BAMF Ishida Uryuu, Gen, Growing Up Shinobi, Iruka-sensei is the best sensei
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-29 23:06:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18303617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zakad/pseuds/Zakad
Summary: Naruto pulls a prank. That's nothing new in Iruka's world. But Ishida-sensei's response is different, especially for a civilian. The rest of Naruto's Academy years promise to be distressingly eventful.





	Lessons Learned

Iruka knows that Naruto is still adjusting to life with his new guardians, but it is obvious to everyone that his circumstances have vastly improved. Naruto comes to school everyday, even if he still skips a class or two. Naruto turns in the majority of his homework, which is finally legible if still unrefined. Naruto brings a healthy lunch and most of it ends up in his stomach instead of on a classmate's head.

That makes it all the more unfortunate that Naruto's first prank-gone-bad happens while Kurosaki-san is out of town. Naruto has grown close to his cousin very quickly, but he is less certain of his relationship with Ishida-sensei. Part of Naruto is afraid that Ishida, who has known Kurosaki-san so much longer, will decide Naruto isn't worth the trouble and that Naruto will end up on his own again. Iruka doesn't think that will happen, but he doesn't know either of Naruto's guardians well enough to be certain it won't.

The target of Naruto's prank, a civilian-born student, Miyamoto Chousei, looks bored and mildly embarrassed. The skin around his eyes is only faintly pink, having faded over the past few hours, and makes him look like he's been crying. On the other hand, his mother glows with incandescent rage. In an unsubtle show of favoritism, Iruka seats Naruto directly behind him, so the boy doesn't have to see the woman's glares while they wait for Ishida-sensei to arrive.

"Why isn't he here yet?" snaps Miyamoto-san.

Iruka catches Naruto shivering, stuck between bristling and bowing his head, and feels his sympathy for the woman wane even further.

"As I explained earlier, Ishida-sensei is in very high demand at the hospital and has arranged for Naruto to stay late. I sent him a message when you asked for a meeting, but I doubt his schedule allows for much flexibility," says Iruka calmly.

As Iruka understands it, the initial fervor over Ishida-sensei's appointment to the hospital has only increased since his arrival. In addition to being a skilled general practitioner, the man is a master surgeon who doesn't require chakra to work, only supplemental medical technology and a complement of nurses. He is popular among civilians  _and_  high-level shinobi who have developed resistance to healing chakra.

Nonetheless, after the first week of life with his new guardians, a week where Naruto showed up to class wet and covered in trash almost everyday, Ishida-sensei began escorting Naruto to the Academy in the morning while Kurosaki-san picked him up in the afternoon. Their presence had stopped the assaults on Naruto from the civilians and improved Naruto's standing among his classmates, who noticed his lack of adult guardians and blamed Naruto for their absence.

Currently, Kurosaki-san is away from the village on a mercantile expedition. It's the first time he has left Konoha since taking in Naruto, and their routine is unsettled by his absence. Ishida-sensei has shifted his working hours forward for the duration of the trip, which means he drops Naruto off at the Academy very early and picks him up long after the other children have left. For other children, the extra time at school would be a punishment, but Naruto usually spends the mornings training in the yard and the late afternoons slowly picking through his homework and doesn't complain. Iruka sees no problems with this arrangement. He always arrives early to open the building and stays late everyday to finish up his lesson plans. But today the wait is agonizing.

When Ishida-sensei finally arrives, Iruka glances at the clock and realizes he's a full fifteen minutes early. The doctor must have received Iruka's message and raced from the hospital to get to the Academy so fast, yet he looks as tidy and unruffled as ever. Iruka doesn't believe that man is actually a simulacrum as the Hyuuga claim but he can see where they're coming from at times like this.

"Iruka-sensei, Naruto-kun," says Ishida politely as he steps into the room. His eyes glance over the Miyamotos and he greets them with a distant nod. He returns his attention to Iruka and Naruto. "What happened?"

"That  _child_  assaulted my Chousei without provocation and almost blinded him. I demand he be punished," says Miyamoto-san.

Iruka can practically hear the word "monster" in her tone, and he sends a warning frown in her direction. In addition to being insulting, she's hovering on the edge of revealing an S-Ranked secret. Iruka wasn't the only one to notice the near substitution. Naruto sinks even lower into his seat. Ishida-sensei's mask of polite interest turns to stone. Even Chousei looks incredulous at extent of his mother's fury.

Ishida turns his attention to his ward. "Naruto-kun, will you tell me what  _she_ —"

"Miyamoto-san," offers Iruka ignoring the venom in Ishida's tone. It's no less than what she used to describe Naruto.

"What  _Miyamato-san_  is talking about?" asks Ishida.

"I put a tiny dye-bomb at Chousei's seat during lunch, so when he sat down he'd get splattered. But he ducked his head down real fast to get into his bag and some of it got in his eyes by accident," says Naruto.

"My son could have been blinded," insists Miyamoto-san.

"It wasn't that strong!" protests Naruto bursting out of his seat in indignation. "And it was just vegetable dye! There wasn't any itching powder mixed in or anything!"

Iruka sends a small, silent prayer of thanks that Naruto had decided against using itching powder. Chousei wouldn't have been blinded by that either, but he certainly would have been miserable all day. From the expression on his face, it looks like Chousei knows it too. His mother does not appreciate this show of restraint in the slightest and looks ready to leap over Iruka to attack Naruto. In contrast, Ishida-sensei looks like he might crack a smile with the right provocation.

"Itching powder!" screeches Miyamoto-san. "Something like that requires severe punishment."

"Miyamoto-san," says Ishida coldly. "No one will be punishing Naruto for something he did  _not_  do. I cannot imagine how you think that is a reasonable request."

Miyamoto-san backs down thwarted by Ishida's logic and intimidated by the harshness of his voice.

"Naruto," says Ishida in an infinitely gentler tone, "why did you booby trap your classmate's desk?"

Naruto looks down and mumbles an answer. Iruka misses it entirely, and judging by the flicker of annoyance on Ishida-sensei's face, he does too, because at that same moment Miyamoto-san yells in outrage.

"Reason? He doesn't need a reason! The boy is a pest. He constantly disturbs the classroom with dangerous pranks. I've heard all about it from my boy and his friends!"

"Miyamoto-san, be quiet," snaps Ishida-sensei.

To Iruka's surprise, the woman's mouth shuts with an audible click. Instead of beginning a new rant, Miyamoto-san pales and recoils as if she has been struck. Iruka doesn't feel any chakra or killing intent emanating from the doctor, but he can't imagine the woman silencing herself voluntarily.

Ishida-sensei nods in satisfaction and turns to Iruka. "Iruka-sensei, would you mind if Naruto and I step into the hall to talk privately for a moment?"

"Of course not," says Iruka keeping a worried eye on Miyamoto-san. Her cheeks are beginning to redden with anger again. Whatever Ishida-sensei had done was wearing off.

Ishida-sensei ushers Naruto out into the hall. Miyamoto slowly gathers herself, though her son doesn't seem to have noticed her sinking spell at all. Iruka will have to note the oversight in Chousei's records. If the boy doesn't monitor his  _mother_ 's health when she's fighting for him, will he monitor his teammate's on the battlefield?

After a few moments, Ishida-sensei steps back inside with Naruto sticking close to him.

"Naruto-kun, tell Iruka-sensei what you told me," says Ishida-sensei.

"Chousei poured orange juice on my head during taijutsu practice yesterday," says Naruto quietly.

"My son would never—"

Miyamoto-san starts to talk but Ishida-sensei cuts her off with another glare. From the guilty look on Chousei's face, the story is true. But Iruka will wait until Naruto is finished to tackle that problem.

"Keep going, Naruto-kun," says Ishida-sensei.

"I told Honda-sensei about it. He asked Chousei if it was true. Chousei said no. Then Chousei said I was trying to cool off and must have poured juice on myself instead of water because I was dumb. Then Honda-sensei left!" says Naruto. There are hot tears forming in the corners of his eyes. He doesn't have much practice at defending himself and is letting emotions overtake him. "Honda-sensei didn't even ask anybody else what had happened, even though everybody saw and laughed at me, and he didn't tell Chousei it was bad to call people dumb!"

A wave of hot anger sweeps through Iruka though he controls is tightly. He has no doubt Naruto's story is true. Sadly, the boy is a terrible liar. Iruka will petition the Academy board to censure Honda. He isn't sure how far his petition would go—Honda is one of the Academy's longest serving taijutsu instructors—but he has to try. It's one thing for teachers to encourage competition. It's another thing entirely to allow bullying in the classroom.

"Thank you for explaining, Naruto-kun," says Iruka solemnly. He turns to his other student. "Chousei-kun, I want you to tell me if Naruto's story is true. If you tell me it's true, you'll receive a day of suspension for bullying. If you tell me it's not true, and I find out you're lying when I investigate, then you'll receive worse. Do you understand?"

Chousei struggles with himself for a moment and glances at his mother. She's still glaring at Naruto and seemingly oblivious to the story she's just heard. Chousei lowers his head. "I poured juice on Naruto. He was complaining about the heat. I thought it would be funny."

"Thank you for being honest, Chousei-kun," says Iruka. "Now tell me, did Honda-sensei do what Naruto said?"

Chousei shrugs listlessly. "Yeah. I mean, you and Hanako are the only teachers who pay attention when people pick on Naruto."

Iruka takes a calming breath. It doesn't do much to calm him down. "I see. Thank you for explaining."

"This doesn't change what that  _boy_  did to my Chousei!" interjects Miyamoto-san.

"No, it doesn't," says Ishida-sensei over any retort of Iruka's. "Naruto-kun, I think you should apologize to Iruka-sensei for getting caught and making a mess in the classroom."

Everyone else in the room stares at him in shock. Even Naruto and Miyamoto-san are allied briefly in their confusion.

"Ah, Ishida-sensei?" asks Naruto nervously.

"Naruto-kun, you appealed to your teacher, the class authority, for justice, and he failed you. So you sought your own justice. That's perfectly normal. You even refrained from seeking vengeance by adding itching powder to your trap, which shows restraint. But if you're really training to be a shinobi, then you should have committed to using a shinobi mindset," explains Ishida.

"Commit to a shinobi mindest?" repeats Naruto faintly. His confusion is plain for all to see.

Ishida-sensei nods. "Shinobi have to do sneaky things for the village without anyone ever knowing who was responsible. How did people know you were the one who pranked Chousei-kun?"

"I yelled, "gotcha" in class," admits Naruto.

"If you hadn't done that, would anyone have known it was you?" asks Ishida-sensei.

Naruto frowns. "I don't know. Probably. I do a lot of pranks."

"If you stop claiming your pranks out loud, people won't automatically know you were responsible. They'll have to work to figure it out," says Ishida. The fact Naruto is a known prankster doesn't seem to bother him at all.

"But if it's like getting back at Chousei for the juice, how will people know?" asks Naruto.

Ishida-sensei's glasses flare. "You can make your prank fit the crime. Like how your hair and clothes were stained with juice and you stained his clothes with dye. Even if other people didn't know, I suspect he could figure it out."

"Huh," says Naruto. "What's the difference between justice and vengeance?"

"It can be a thin line sometimes," says Ishida. "We'll ask Kurosaki about it when he comes back. He's very good at justice."

"Okay," says Naruto sounding cheered by the thought.

"Now don't forget to apologize," says Ishida-sensei.

"I'm sorry for getting caught, Iruka-sensei. You're teaching me to be a ninja, and I wasn't very sneaky about it. And I'm sorry I got dye all over the desk. I made a mess," says Naruto bowing.

"Apology accepted, Naruto-kun. But you'll still need to stay after school one day to write lines," says Iruka. He's still in shock from the turn Ishisa-sensei's lecture had taken. The man isn't wrong exactly, but civilians are supposed to be more moral and less practical thank shinobi. That's how the world works.

"Next week," says Ishida-sensei firmly. "Naruto already has to stay late this week. Staying late next week, when Kurosaki is back, will emphasize the point. And Naruto-kun, you need to apologize to your classmate too. He may be your comrade one day and you want to be able to work with each other."

Naruto turns to Chousei, whose gaping mouth reflects his mother's perfectly. "I'm sorry for pranking you," says Naruto grudgingly. A little more sincerely he adds, "And for getting dye in your eyes. It was just supposed be on your clothes."

"Thanks," says the stunned Chousei.

Miyamoto-san chooses that moment for one last rally of vitriol. "You do not need to accept an apology from that—"

"Shouldn't Chousei have to apologize for dumping juice on my head?" asks Naruto at his regular volume. Any timidness he had seems to have evaporated with Ishida-sensei's approval of his actions.

Ishida-sensei raises a brow. "We are all products of our environment," he says after a moment.

Iruka almost chokes. Miyamoto-san splutters in outrage. Naruto and Chousei are both obviously confused by this bit of old people wisdom, but Chousei takes the initiative anyway.

"Sorry for dumping juice on your head," he says quietly. "And for calling you dumb. You're not dumb. That trap was really good."

"Really?" asks Naruto suspiciously.

"Yeah," says Chousei sounding oddly enthusiastic. "I didn't even notice. Like, if it had been a kunai. I really would have been blinded or maybe killed!"

Miyamoto-san shrieks and collapses onto the floor. Chousei yelps in alarm and reacts quickly enough to cushion her head. Iruka and Ishida-sensei exchange disbelieving looks. Civilians can be utterly precious about the strangest things. Then Ishida-sensei sighs heavily and kneels to check on her.

Naruto and Ishida-sensei leave after Miyamoto-san rouses. From what Iruka can overhear, they are going to Ichiraku for dinner. Iruka has to give Miyamoto-san an ungentle reminder that students are not allowed to quit the Academy unless they are permanently injured or fail the graduation exam at least twice, but Chousei, deciding his mother has embarrassed him enough for one day, leads her home before she can work up another round of shouting at Iruka.

Iruka takes a moment to sit at his desk and relax. It is a very brief moment. The terrifying conversation between Naruto and Ishida-sensei keeps replaying in his head. How hard will it be to catch Naruto at his pranks now that he is going to actively hide his responsibility for them? And what did Ishida-sensei mean when he said  _Kurosaki_  is an expert on justice? What does that make Ishida-sensei?

There is at least some good coming out of the meeting. Ishida-sensei is making an official complaint about Honda-sensei (and possibly every other teacher except Hanako and Iruka) which will give Iruka a starting point for his petition of censure to the board. And Iruka thinks hopefully, it is even possible that Naruto is on his way to making his first ever friend.

**Author's Note:**

> Iruka is the first Leaf-nin to realize that Ishida is completely and utterly terrifying, but no one believes that the doctor with no chakra is a serious threat until it's too late.
> 
> Ishida is going to train Naruto to be cunning, and Ichigo is going to train him to be honorable, and everyone else is going to have to deal with the headache that causes.
> 
> I was trying to focus on other stories, but the muse inspires what it wants. (Including present tense. Why, O muse, why?)
> 
> Thanks for reading. Please review!


End file.
